NEWS ROUNDUP

BJ's WHOLESALE TO ADD PHARMACIESale Club here said it is planning to test pharmacy departments in six locations, starting with a store in the Atlanta market next spring. The company, which operates 119 membership clubs selling discount groceries and other merchandise, said it is planning to include pharmacies in the first five stores it opens in the Atlanta market.The sixth will be in a store near

Sep 03, 2001

BJ's WHOLESALE TO ADD PHARMACIES

ale Club here said it is planning to test pharmacy departments in six locations, starting with a store in the Atlanta market next spring. The company, which operates 119 membership clubs selling discount groceries and other merchandise, said it is planning to include pharmacies in the first five stores it opens in the Atlanta market.

The sixth will be in a store near its headquarters that will be retrofitted to accommodate the prescription drug department. The location of that store and the timing of the pharmacy department's opening have not been determined yet, said Julie Somers, a BJ's spokeswoman.

"We're always looking for ways to bring our members more value for their membership," she said.

COURT DELAYS INDIANA MEDICAID CUTS

INDIANAPOLIS -- Pharmacists in Indiana recently won a temporary restraining order against a measure to reduce their state Medicaid prescription reimbursements, but the state attorney general's office countered by filing a motion for an expedited hearing. The Indiana Pharmacists Alliance, Walgreen Co., CVS Pharmacy Corp. and others sued the state to prevent it from implementing cuts in the state's reimbursement rates. They say the cuts would force many pharmacies that rely heavily on Medicaid patients to close. Pharmacies argue that the state did not follow proper procedures when it authorized the emergency cuts.

"I don't know how they can even call it an emergency [based on forecasted Medicaid spending needs]," said Lary Sage, executive vice president, Indiana Pharmacists Alliance. A hearing has been set for Sept. 21.